Still trying to readjust my life. From a 3rd world to a 1st. Experiencing some withdrawal symptoms.

Life after I’m back…

(We painted the walls of a community hall in a village shown in the pictures below)

Woke up at 2.30pm. Total deep sleep! Caught up on MSN and Facebook… Lunched alone @ JP.

Orchestra rehearsal at night cum recording with choir… 

Watching HARRY POTTER with my Indo team @ Vivo later.

Skipping piano lesson as I know it’d be a waste of time and money since I haven’t practised for 2 weeks.

Gonna spend the entire day on Friday with “Basic Cardiac Life Saving” course @ SGH. Hopefully it’ll be worth my time. Holidays are too precious to me.

By the way, I painted those grapes above. =P

Saturday will be spent @ Singapore Indoor Stadium, having a rehearsal with the orchestra and choir and attending Festival of Praise thereafter.

Sunday… Performance @ SIS for church‘s 20th anniversary and rehearsal at night @ Jurong West building.

Monday… Orchestra rehearsal at night @ someone’s house.

And so forth………

On top of all those, I have to practise for my upcoming piano exam and prepare for school… Bidding for modules and stuff… Haven’t even checked my flooded school email.

I dunno. It’s kinda overwhelming… Sometimes I feel like crying…

 

Anyway, do come down for our concert on 23rd of August @ VCH. Let me know if you need tickets. :) Hopefully soon so I can get the better seats… It’s selling out kinda fast.

A friend sponsored 2 tickets, so… If you REALLY wanna go but are financially tight, hurry let me know so I can reserve those for you. :)

Tickets are selling at $15 (before 1 August), $18 (After 1 August) and $25.

@ HOME!

Touched down a few hours ago, and am in the comfort of my room now.

It had been a crazy adventure.
The best 2 weeks of my life.

I don’t even know where to begin…

It’s strange being alone in my room… And sleeping alone tonight.

 

I missed the security in Singapore while I was there. Thank God for protection! I am back in ONE piece.

While we were there, 2 hotels were bombed in Jakarta and there was a bomb threat in Medan (about 2-hour ride away from Serdang).

We stayed in a rural village so it was rather safe. But still, there was much insecurity in a foreign land. 

Furthermore, almost half of my team was down with some form of illnesses, 3 of them were admitted to the hospital. A friend was so appalled by the healthcare practices, she took over the injection and double checked all medication administered.

We were thinking “Will I be the next to fall sick?”. Our morale was pretty low. Thank God I was in good health throughout!

We had also experienced first-hand CORRUPTION with the government. We were disallowed to conduct our health camps in public schools as we didn’t wanna PAY for some ‘missing documents’ they wanted at the very last minute.

Madness.

Thankfully, the pastor whom we stayed with sorted out other alternatives for us, and things went smoothly thereafter.

Amidst the challenges and obstacles, our team remained strong and cooperative, It was the best team ever, we blended so well together that there was NO bitching AT ALL even with 16 girls (and 3 guys) living under one roof for 14 days.

Every one liked every one.
And all put in effort to contribute to the team.

Now that was a feat. :)

 

I’d like to think that nurses have higher EQ??? HAHA. Thanks to the “THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATIONS” module we had. Ya right. Muaha.

It was really great company. :)

 

We actually had more fun than work as our plans were halted, so it felt like a holiday trip instead.

Reason why I did not lose weight. 

Hahaha.

Pictures will be uploaded into FACEBOOK soon and you will know what I mean…… :)

@ Kor's house


We went to Giant at Tampines earlier! Wow it was my FIRST time there. HAHA...

We're watching TV now! Haven't done so for ages. Haha.


Ok the above 2 sentences made me sound like I've just emerged from a hole...





I have nothing much to say for now, gotta reach the airport in a few hours hoho.



I think I can still be contactable via my handphone...
Otherwise... I dunno haha.

Having mixed feelings now...

Well, till then, take care and see ya! :)




Big bear hug!

Spent my entire day with my Indo team in school till about 10pm!

It was really fun and I’m super looking forward to our trip hehehe.

What a far cry from previous days haha. Strange.

We were briefed on what to expect there and issues concerning our safety.

What happened was, I needed to act as an injured person without them knowing lol. I sat myself at the foot of a slope and pour tomato sauce on my leg, with some grasses sticking on it.

It was darn embarrassing because it looked so real and passer-bys actually stood afar and watched (typical Singaporean) and some even asked if I was ok.

OMG… Kill me…

I called an innocent team mate to tell her of my ‘predicament’ and the whole team went looking me. Since it looked SO real from afar, they were really worried and anxious.

The look on their faces was priceless.
HAHAHAA. I felt a little bad after that.

But… It’s important to run through the things we ought to do when emergencies like that occur haha. Who to call and stuff.

 

Wonder why did I volunteer for that role… LOL…

 

We did a sharing session at night called “My Life Journey”. We didn’t expect that most of us would start crying upon sharing. It was a heartfelt moment. :)

 

What greeted me when I reached home was a letter on my bed from Singapore Symphonia Company Limited regarding my piano exam. It was a surprise as I just wrote about this yesterday and complained of their inefficiency. =X

They probably saw my post? Lol…

Anyway, it was a piece of bad news.

Date of my exam is 24th August (Monday) at 11:37am, which is the day after my orchestra concert.

Congratulations…

I have nothing to say.

And I never like morning exams. Mornings are for sleeping, how to play the piano?! =X

I gotta book in advance the exam venue for practice before I fly…

And gotta start packing my 2-week stuff tmr…

Might be meeting my sec school friends for dinner and will be staying over at my Kor’s place tmr instead since he stays near the airport.

He’ll be driving me there too! So blessed! :)

 

That’s my plan for tmr. :)
As for now, I need to chiong my drama! :)

Slept at 5am this morning.
Tossed and turned, trying to find a perfect position to sleep in.

Oh what agony. :(

Too many thoughts flashing through my head of what’s ahead and what’s in hand. Kinda make my head felt heavier?

 

 

Anyway today was great, though the waking up part was bad.

Service was great :)

My bro actually went! :)

(Told you he looks like me, and told you he’s good looking. LOL)

Nothing beats attending the same church and service as your family. :)

 

Had my last orchestra practice at night, before I leave for Indo…

It was nice. :)

Lots of Mozzzzart… Which made me so stoned after that. Hahaha

 

 

And now I’m still riding on the 3 hours of sleep (Or rather nap) which I had in the morning…

Trying to finish up my Indo stuff for tmr’s meeting…

 

Ok anyway!

I’ll be leaving on 15 July (Wednesday) at 5.30am. So me and my friends are thinking of staying overnight at the airport on Tuesday? Hoho.

Destination: Medan and Serdang, Indonesia

Mission: To conduct health screening, collect health survey data for future use and to educate the people of proper nutrition.

PLUS to shop and tour around hahaha.
(Any shopping requests? =P Don’t be shy to tell me haha)

 

Will be back on 28th July (Tuesday) at 10.50pm. (Hopefully)

Otherwise, please know that I love you and will miss you. (Eww tacky…)

 

Well if everything is fine, I’ll go for orchestra rehearsal on the 29th July (Wednesday) at night… So glad I am able to make it!

And we’ll be performing a piece on 2nd August (Sunday) for our church 20th Anniversary @ the Singapore Indoor Stadium!!!

OMG how cool is that. My first time performing there… What an honour and privilege!

That means rehearsal @ SIS on 1st August (Saturday).

 

After which, I gotta BID for my module for next semester on 3rd August (Monday). Haven’t decided which module to take yet!

And after that I gotta psyche myself up for YEAR 2 semester, START OF SCHOOL. When I haven’t even holidayed!

And not forgetting my piano exam which is also in August, of which the date and place is not known yet… So inefficient. Not expecting fantastic result anyway, given my lack of practise.

And then orchestra performance on the 23rd August (Sunday) @ Victoria Concert Hall.

 

 

All the above are constantly replaying themselves on my mind, like a cranked up recorder.

That might be the reason why I am unwell since Thursday?

Feeling nauseous everyday (due to stress and thus release of more cAMP -> increase amount of gastric acid released??? So whatever right! haha) and having dizzy spells due to mental fatigue maybe.

Of which I can predict what the doctor would say… “Your body needs more rest, drink more water and rest well.”

I wouldn’t wanna pay $30 for that. =P And having to eat some medicine which they give out of obligation, as it might seem strange to consult a doctor without leaving with any kinda treatment right?

 

Ok I’m digressing.

 

Anyway, after writing my upcoming plans… My mind feels ‘neater’ now.

Though there’re always bigger dreams and goals inside which at times weigh me down…

Hope they can be manifested in reality so as to free up my mind.

Hope to realize even bigger dreams after that though. =P Greedy!

 

 

And now I’m really dreamy and falling asleep soon…………

Indo meeting the whole day tmr and hopefully I can meet my kor tmr before I leave.

Hoho, just celebrated MENG CHING’S BIRTHDAY.

And realised that most of my friends are into their 20s!!!!

This is so cool. I always thought that 20+ is the time of our life. Or rather the beginning of life.

Teenage years are of stupid fun, wavering thoughts and silly crushes. :)

Her birthday wish coming true on the very same day!

Painting carefully :)

Ta da! 

Angeline =P

Done by yours truly! Lol…

We painted her bedroom as a birthday present!!! They worked for about 5 hours while I reached later cos of Indo meeting………… So I actually did only 10% (or less) hehe.

And then steamboat!

Waha…

Anyway, we were having some GIRLS’ talk and somehow it led to guy’s talk, about how men will not stay true to his wife?!

Omg. It was really not an edifying talk. Lol. Anyway I disagree with that. :)

What happened was…

Recently, this girl broke off with her boyfriend who had pursued her for a good 1 year. After which they were together for about 3 years.

Well, actually it was her bf who wanted out and his lame reason?

“I wanna focus on my studies.”

He must be too dumb and therefore can’t handle both at once.

Well, he happened to be my schoolmate. And now he has found someone new. Ok.

I don’t understand one thing about guys.

Why do they still wanna keep in CONTACT with their EX-gfs when they are the ones who wanted out in the first place?

So not man enough.

Of course, the girl was DARN IRRITATED by his continuous SMSes. It’s like, “Now that you are OUT OF MY LIFE, just go far away??? Vanish or something, I don’t care yea.”

 

 

So guys, now you know.

It’s all or nothing.
Now or never. :)

There’s a war raging in my mind
Of conflicting thoughts and ideas.

If they were scenes played out
It’d be of a bloody massacre.

Thankfully it’s all within the boundary of my cranium
Which is sometimes evident by warm exudate of water droplets.

@ Science Canteen

 

Have been listening to young MJ’s “I’ll Be There” for the umpteenth time. It’s a purely beautiful song :) There was such depth in his singing even at a tender age… At times it makes me wanna cryyy…

~~~

If you should ever find someone new
I know he’d better be good to you
’Cos if he doesn’t
I’ll be there

- Jackson 5 “I’ll Be There”

~~~

:)

This song reminds me of my kor…

Though we seldom meet, I know he’s always there for me. :)

And he’s very protective over the kinda guys I choose.

Reason why I am single? HAHA.

Ok that’s random.

… … …

Sigh I’m not in the best of health, down with god-knows-what. Might have to nurse myself muaha…

*A mindless blabber ahead.*

Sigh…

Honestly, I’m not looking forward to my 2-week Indo trip.

Ok, I’m in “external programme” with 2 others and our job is to plan out the activities there.

Recently, 1 of them was admitted to hospital due to fever. Her sis is also down with H1N1. So she drew out of the team.

And now the other one backed out too due to parental objection. She’s also down with a mild flu.

So I am the only one left…

There’s a meeting later in the morning in school with some of us… And I guess I am supposed to oversee it?

That’s fine, but I just knew that.

Hmmm and the thought of leaving my Cello and missing 4 orchestra pracs… And leaving my piano with an impending exam in August… Weighs me down.

I could have done so much more ‘urgent’ stuff in that 2 weeks. Though it’ll definitely be an eye-opener where I can learn much and have fun at the same time…

But there’s always this “but”…

Aileen, please JUST SHUT UP, DO AND GO. KICK YOUR BUTT!

 

~~~

Ok……………

What kind of holiday is this…

I haven’t had the chance to taste boredom! It might sound stupid yea…

But I just wanna be carelessly left alone (that includes having my HP out of sight).

I miss spending time by myself.

Ah… Pure indulgence.

 

Watched MJ’s memorial this morning, resulting in me sleeping at 4.30am.

There were many heartfelt eulogies and performances, of which you can now watch on YouTube. Some said it was to ‘celebrate his life’, but I can’t make any sense out of it.

How was that so now that he’s passed on?

How about those who created scandals and rumours, who stalked him around, who accused him… Are they happier now?

It’s best to just mind our own business.

~~~

Orchestra prac was kinda enjoyable tonight hehe. Somehow yea.

Anyway, our performance is ON!!!!

Who: The Millennial Orchestra

Title: Local Talents & Composers

Date: 23 August 2009 (Sunday)

Time: To be confirmed (Most likely in the evening)

Venue: Victoria Concert Hall

Prices:
Stall seats (floor area) - $18 ($15 for the early birds =P who order before August) 

Circle seats (2nd level) - $25

No early bird discount for circle seats.

 

We’ll be performing works by local composers and a Bach piano concerto.

Sooo, do let me know if you’re interested! :)

By this week if you want the discount and better seats! Cos I won’t be around the next 2 weeks. :(

 

Then again, you can always sms me………  :)

 

 

 

Not looking forward to piano lesson @ 11am. So screwed.

If I can FLY, I’ll fly over the moon now!!!!!!!!!!!

Muahahaha.

OMG I’m overjoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel restricted to say why! Because I’m NOT supposed to know. If he finds out, it might just spoil the whole thing!

But it’s the happiest piece of news ever. I’m foreseeing the greatest reunion this weekend.

God is indeed amazing.
I was praying a lot for THAT during tonight’s meeting in church and when I reached home, I got the great news!

I cannot fathom how God works. His plans are slowly unfolding and I’m blown away.

Keep persevering & stay PERSISTENT.

Like a desert flower. :)

Spent today @ home with my piano. :)
Was nice to revisit some songs which I have shoved aside for too long.

Felt good to vacuum my house and unpack my camp stuff (like finally)… :)

 

Received a good news earlier :)

~~~

CEC says:
ur bro said "bro i feel like coming to chc but i cant wake up"

åileen - ♫ Keep the dream alive!!! ♫ says:
omg

CEC says:
i going to tell him i can go ur house knock until u wake up ah !

~~~

CEC (a.k.a Chang) is my secondary school friend. It is still a mystery how we actually became friends, neither of us could figure out. I guess it was some divine plan haha.

I remember talking to him a lot online, even before we actually talked in school. Somehow we were very open towards each other and I would tell him about God and church.

After many months of sowing into his life, he came to church with me and was integrated. And as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Never did I know that 5 years later, he would be in the same army camp as my brother. And the amazing thing is, God is now using him to reach out to my brother.

He’s a hard nut to crack. It’s a miracle MY BROTHER ACTUALLY “FEELS LIKE COMING TO CHC”.

I remember praying to God one night shortly after my bro went into the army. I prayed for God to send someone to my bro, to bring him back to God. (Ok the sentence is kinda weird.)

Never did I expect Chang to be the one. I guess God works in amazing ways ya. Sometimes we might think that we are praying in vain when nothing happens. But God hears, and His timing is always perfect. :)

 

¹⁴ And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. ¹⁵ And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

1 John 5:13-15 (NLT)

 

By the way, my bro and I look totally alike (according to people who have seen us.). I think he’s good-looking. HAHAHA.

Freshly back from orchestra prac and freaking crying now. What a wimp.

The last thing I wanna do is to spoil the entire orchestra.

That’s my main concern and greatest fear. If so, then I’d rather back off.

I feel like a small fish being thrown in an ocean. Always trying to match up to the bigger fishes… But always falling short. Sometimes I wish to just hide in between the corals and… Watch.

 

But of course I won’t.

 

I’m still pretty much the silly determined girl I was when I first joined the orchestra. It’s really not worth giving up after much scolding, tears, mental torment and $$$.

I thought of my teacher, his patience and encouragement… The time and effort he has invested in me… Of how he taught me right from scratch… I really owe it all to him.

Trust me, I was not an easy student… Hehe *shrug*

And I thought of my fellow musicians and friends who have believed in me and encouraged me on my way…

And I thought of the prayers I made to God, the many times I told Him of how much I felt like giving up… Of how much I needed Him to bring me through… Of how I am nothing without Him.

And that during every practice alone, I’d pray for God to be my best teacher.

He’s always reminding me of the vision I had way before I even knew how to play a cello. I had laughed at that. It was just a silly casual bigger-than-myself dream…

It was a vision of me playing the cello in a rather big orchestra. I can still remember it clearly now after a decade. For someone with bad memory, it must be a special dream. :)

So now I got my prayers answered, I landed myself in an orchestra playing the cello. So what the hell is with me and those thoughts of I-wish-I-don’t-have-to-perform-in-August????!!!!!

God will bring me through this again!

Aileen, please just stop WHINING and SELF-PITYING, it’s IRRITATING and a BIG TURN-OFF. You could have used that time for some fruitful practising!!!

 

Watched “Transformers” @ Vivo today!

Hmmm… I actually understood Part 1 better than 2 haha. And hmmm… I think I insulted the movie by dozing off a little in between hahaha…

I thought it was a little draggy? And really, the scenes made me giddy. =P

~~~

Went to school at about 9+am for our Indo meeting, to decide whether we should go ahead with our trip since our nursing head and Dean of Medicine don’t wanna take responsibility in the event where we are down with H1N1.

We were also concerned about ‘ruining’ our school’s reputation if we go against 'their ‘advice’ and get ourselves into trouble. We certainly do not wish to appear on the papers.

And hear the infamous “See, I told you so.”

Indonesia is also having H5N1 (Avian Flu), which is deadlier than H1N1… So we’re also afraid that a person might contract the TWO viruses at once and cause some freak mutation.

However, there has only been 8 reported cases of H1N1 in Medan thus far. So probability of us spreading the disease to them is even higher.

Honestly, the flu is our LEAST concern.
I think it’s overrated.

To cut story short, we are GOING!!!!! In about 10 more days. :)

Aileen has campN.U.R.S.E-ed!!! HAHAHA.

Totally enjoyed the camp and love the new batch of nursing students!!! They were so fun and ON! Nursing will never be the same again. Muahaha.

PICTUREsss!!!

DAY 1

 

Still strange to everyone

Breaking the ice

The seniors

 

My OG! VODA!!! Lol. With my roomie :)

@ Pasir Ris haha

The OGLs!

@ Bedok Reservoir :)

Before mass dance.

-End of Day 1-

DAY 2

Station master in the morning!

Lol. Fun time bullying hahaha

Some of the OGs haha.

Classic picture by the beach

 

And then sneaking off in the afternoon to chill

OG preparing for finale night :)

Rushed back to JW for orchestra prac.

-End of Day 2-

DAY 3 

Slacked with fellow friends in the chalet

Followed by FINALE NIGHT. :)

 

Dance competition between OGs!

After much crazy fun! All wet stinky and dirty muahahaha

And the night was still YOUNG…

Went cycling at 11pm with 4 others…

From Pasir Ris –> Changi Village –> Changi beach –> Airport runway –> East Coast Park –> Mac –> Kembangan –> Bedok –> Tampines
–> BACK @ 6.30am!

@ Changi Village

Friend: Eh I saw one! 9 o’clock!
Me: So loud…!
*Trying to find*
Me: Where?? Oh.

Turned to look in front.

Me: *gasp*

I’d would have banged into another one.

@ Changi Beach

It was about 12+am, the air traffic was so heavy! Planes were landing one after another. We stood by the beach and watched the sky. It was a display of blinking lights and engine sounds. :) The otherwise bleak dark sky became alive~

@ the Airport runway

We cycled beside the runway in the dark. SIA planes were taking off just beside us! Lovely engine sounds in crescendo. For a moment, I felt like a kampong kid chasing after a plane.

@ the start of ECP

DRAMA!!!

We were happily cycling, wanting to cross a road when out of nowhere, a PACK of wild dogs ran towards us barking!!! We froze on the spot. Since I was in front of my group, I was the first to be sniffed at by a dog.

I was so freaking scared it would bite me!!!!!! Thankfully I was only sniffed at, some others got LICKED.

After a few minutes of ‘inspection’ by the dogs, we attempted to move forward to cross the road… Never did we know that they would follow us! And we had yet again another round of inspection as they blocked our way and continued with their sniffing.

This went on for about 5-10 minutes. When we sensed that they couldn’t be bothered with us anymore, we rode away for our lives haha.

Talk about cheap thrills.

 

@ 3am. 5 of us safe @ ECP Mac :)

    

This is for my beloved CG…
Aileen has Mac-ed. Lol.

(I felt sick in the stomach after that fateful meal though… Maybe it’s a psychological effect? Haha. But I guess fast-foods are really bad. =P)

The 3 girls! :)

Our bikes :)

6.30am. Finally back @ Pasir Ris, enjoying a sunrise together :)

Not much of a sunrise though haha

Aching butts lol

An attempt LOL…

@ 7+. Taking a breather. Zombified.

With Mel

It was really time to bathe. Lol.

Final sharing session with OG

I received a huge teardrop (or rather water droplet) from them LOL with messages behind. So unexpected! since I was their OGL for only 1 day. =P

That’s all for campN.U.R.S.E!!!

Excited for school! :)

- THE END -

After which, I slept ALL the way in the train from Pasir Ris to Boon Lay. And 3 hours at home before going for piano lesson.

Of which I totally screwed up the entire 1 hour. Much to my teacher’s disappointment. Sigh…

Another long day tmr!